Sunday, August 02, 2015, 3:30 p.m.

China cited in cyber-espionage case

By The Associated Press

This article was originally published May 19, 2014 at 8:49 a.m.
Updated May 19, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.

PHOTO BY AP/CHARLES DHARAPAK

Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, second right, U.S. Attorney for Western District of Pennsylvania David Hickton, left, and FBI Executive Associate Director Robert Anderson, right, speak at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014. Holder was announcing that a U.S. grand jury has charged five Chinese hackers with economic espionage and trade secret theft, the first-of-its-kind criminal charges against Chinese military officials in an international cyber-espionage case.

WASHINGTON — The United States has brought first-of-its kind cyber-espionage charges against five Chinese military officials accused of hacking into U.S. companies to gain trade secrets.

According to the indictment, hackers targeted the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries. The hackers are accused of stealing trade secrets and economic espionage. And the alleged victims are brand-name companies including Alcoa and Westinghouse.

The charges have been described as unprecedented and dramatize a long-time Obama administration goal to prosecute state-sponsored cyber threats.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. will not tolerate foreign government efforts to sabotage American companies.

U.S. officials have accused China's army and China-based hackers of launching attacks on American industrial and military targets, often to steal secrets or intellectual property. China has said that it faces a major threat from hackers, and the country's military is believed to be among the biggest targets of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command.